Former Professional Boxer Pawel Wolak Announces Plans to Pursue MMA Career

Lightweight is considered by many to be the
UFC’s deepest and most dangerous division. If all goes as
planned, former professional boxer Pawel Wolak will eventually be
swimming with the sharks.

Wolak officially announced his intentions to transition to MMA on
Wednesday night at the annual Boxing Writers Association of America
dinner in New York, where he received “Fight of the Year” honors
for his July 15, 2011 154-pound bout with Delvin Rodriguez -- a
contest that ended in a draw after 10 back-and-forth rounds.

The Debica, Poland native lost a decision to Rodriguez in a rematch
on Dec. 3 and announced his retirement from boxing four days later.
Wolak, who will be managed by Monte Cox, began his MMA education
shortly thereafter. Although his ultimate goal is to fight for the
UFC, Wolak is prepared to take the necessary steps to reach the
sport’s largest organization.

“My background was as a successful New Jersey state wrester and
kickboxer, so I am going back to my roots,” Wolak told Sherdog.com.
“Monte, [longtime advisor] Howard Horowitz and I will lay out the
strategy. I will get to the UFC when I am ready to make a statement
in the lightweight division. I am not going to jump in right away,
but only when I know I can become champion. I have been training
since December. Nobody will want to stand up with me, so I am
working really hard on the ground game. I will visit camps with
Monte and Howard as we get closer to making a run at this
thing.”

“It isn’t often a guy comes along with the fighting credentials of
Pawel Wolak. I’m thrilled to have the chance to help take him to
the level in MMA that he reached in boxing. Without a doubt, he can
be a UFC champion,” said Cox, who has managed seven former UFC
title holders.

"Pawel is unique in that he is in the prime of his career,” Cox
continued. “He can stay in boxing and make a great living, but he
has always had a love for MMA and he wants to see how well he can
do while he is at his best. It’s nothing like some of the other
boxers switching over when their best days are behind them.”

The 30-year-old Wolak went 29-2-1 over the course of a professional
career that began in 2004. He finished 19 of his opponents by
knockout and was generally recognized as one of the Top 10 fighters
in the world at his weight class. Known for an aggressive,
pressuring style, Wolak’s signature victory came in March 2011,
when he scored a sixth-round TKO victory over former junior
middleweight champion Yuri Foreman at the MGM Grand in Las
Vegas.

At the moment, the man known as “Raging Bull” seems to be at peace
with the decision to change his place of business from the ring to
a cage.

“Most people think that I am coming back to boxing. I have always
said that if a champion wanted to fight me that door would always
be open,” Wolak said. “But those champions wouldn’t fight me
before, so why would they now? I fell into boxing many years ago
while training for MMA and never had the opportunity to go into it
because boxing just took off for me.”